Alley sweep for textile mills



Oct. 21, 1952 v CLARK I 2,614,281

ALLEY SWEEP FOR TEXTILE MILLS Filed Aug. 18' 1949 Hoiace 5 Clark VENTOR.

Patented Oct. 21, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALLEY SWEEP FOR TEXTILE MILLS Horace E. Clark, Atlanta, Ga.

Application August 18, 1949, Serial No. 110,903

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in brushes and more particularly to double brushes hinged at their rear ends to swing their front ends into an open or closed position for use as an alley sweep in textile mills and other types of aisles where it is necessary to frequently adjust the width of the brush.

An important object of the invention is to provide a brush of this character adjusted with a pair of handles to open and close the brushes and of a length greater than that of the brushes and embodying a handle connection whereby a relatively short movement of the handle is sufficient to move the brushes into a fully open position to keep the handles inwardly of the outermost edges of the brushes and enable the brushes to work under the frames of textile or other machinery to thoroughly clean the floor without interference of the handles with the legs or the frame and thus avoiding injury to the hands of the user by striking the machinery.

Another object is to provide a handle construction for hingedly connected double brushes of this character which eliminates the danger of accidently raising of the front ends of the brushes by downward pressure on the handles and thereby insuring a more thorough cleaning of the floor.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character of simple and practical construction, which is strong and durable, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part thereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a perspective View;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on a line 3-3 of Figure 2; and,

Figure 4 is a top plan view showing the handles confined within the sweeping width of the brush.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, wherein for the purpose of illustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numerals 5 and 6 designate a pair of brushes of elongated construction positioned in side by side The hinge plates 8 of the hinge are connected to each other by a bolt and nut 9 forming the hinge pin to facilitate removal thereof for quickly and easily replacing either of the brushes.

A bar l0 of strap metal is secured in a longitudinal position on top of each brush by means of a screw at the front ends of the bars and the bars project rearwardly beyond the rear ends of the brushes and are crossed at a point above the hinge pin or bolt and nut 9 which also provides a pivotal connection for the bars at their point of crossing.

The rear ends of the bars [0 beyond the hinge pin 9 continue a short distance in the plane of the bars and terminate in upwardly inclined arms [2 and to which relatively short front handle sections [3 are pivotally connected by bolts and nuts i l. The handle sections iii are pivotally connected to each other in crossed relation by a pivot pin l5 and relatively long rear handle sections it are connected to the rear ends of the front by suitable fasteners H.

Upstanding shields l8 are suitably secured to the outer side edges of brushes 5 and 6 and extend longitudinally of the brushes. The front ends of the shields terminate short of the front ends of the brushes and taper to gradually merge with the brushes and rear ends of the shields are formed with inwardly extending flanges l9 which overlie bars l0 and are offset from each other to prevent interference with the opening swinging movement of the brushes.

In the operation of the device, a closing movement of rear handle sections [6 at pivot [5 causes a similar closing movement of front handle sections I3 as well as inclined arms l2 and brushes 5 and 6. An opposite movement of handles it opens brushes 5 and 6.

The leverage of handle sections 13 between pivot l 5 and their front ends at their connection with arms I 2 is greater than the leverage of arms 12 thereby resulting in a relatively greater opening and closing movement of brushes 5 and 6 by the handles l6. The handles may thus be constructed of a length greater than that of the brushes and the handles always maintained within the cleaning width of the brushes as indicated in Figure 4, to enable the brushes to clean the full width of an alley of a textile mill and work under machines without interference by the handles and without danger of injury to the hands of the sweeper.

In View of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in the art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment Of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A floor brush comprising a pair of elongated brush members, a hinge structure pivotally connecting a respective end of the brushes to each other for opening and closing movement, said hinge structure including a hinge pin, a bar fixed to each brush member and crossing each other at the hinge pin and pivoted on the latter, said bars projecting beyond the pivoted ends of the brushes, an upwardly inclined arm at the projecting end of each bar, and a pair of handles having front ends pivoted to "the arms and pivoted to each other in crossed relation adJacent their front ends.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said handles are constructed with their front ends greater in length than the length of said arms to provide greater leverage for the handles and resulting in an increase in the throw of the brushes by the opening and closing movement of the handles.

' HORACE E. CLARK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 825,379 Clarke July 10, 1906 1,320,260 Matthews Oct. 28, 1919 1,494,241 Henderson May 13, 1924 1,784,567 Aultman Dec. 9, 1930 

